Watching Disney's Menstruation video and looking into Reading 17 made me think of a few recurrences in Disney films. When looking into various films in my own collection I noticed a lot of differences in their presentation of their princesses. Like the ones that Sperry and Grauerholz base their findings from Cinderella and Snow White both movies reference their protagonists as the classic damsel in distress. This has been very apparent in other movies that Disney has produced during this time period however I do believe they are slightly evolving in what they believe women should represent in society.
Other movies that have currently been made, like Snow White and the Huntsman, the Princess and the Frog, and Brave, have shown more of a tolerance of making the woman stand up for herself and her beliefs. They still use it in more of a feminine aspect but they are slowly progressing into making a stronger masculine presence in their princesses. The most apparent would be Merida in Brave. She is able to hunt, provide for her family, and is constantly chastised for being unlady-like. She is classified as a female but she is unable to present herself in the appropriate way so that others see her as feminine at times. This shows a great sense of evolvement either from the medieval period or in the 21-Century. Just as the Elizabeth Gilbert's reading in Kaleidoscope of Gender (203), Merida is a girl and a identifies herself as feminine but she has masculine qualities that put her too close for comfort in her similarities to masculinity. However, as by the end of Gilbert's experience as a man, both women are able to see feminine qualities that exclude physical qualities.